


The Mailman

by Cirelli



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Handholding, I promise there's no angst lmao, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Kissing, Letters, M/M, Rain, they're both happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:48:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28554150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cirelli/pseuds/Cirelli
Summary: “The usual?” Mingyu asks, stepping closer to the customer who has just settled on a bar stool on the other side of the counter.The man nods without a word, his tired eyes looking at nothing in particular. Mingyu doesn’t take any offense at his silence: he knows his regular inside out by now, so he somewhat expected it.Jihoon seems even more exhausted than usual, this time. Outside, the rain is pouring down on the quiet city. It looks like the sky, too, is mourning someone tonight.On a quiet, rainy night in a lone city, two men come together to have a chat about their lives, their pasts, and their futures.
Relationships: Kim Mingyu/Lee Jihoon | Woozi
Kudos: 23





	The Mailman

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone~ I wrote this in one sitting yesterday as a form of procrastination on a bigger project LMAO  
> I hope you will enjoy it 🥰️
> 
> I was listening to [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzpt3fQjY9U) while writing this AU 🎵
> 
> Huge thank you to my friend [thanku4urlove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thanku4urlove/works?fandom_id=4551485) for beta-reading this, love you 💞 Please consider checking out her work, she's amazing!!

“The usual?” Mingyu asks, stepping closer to the customer who has just settled on a bar stool on the other side of the counter.

The man nods without a word, his tired eyes looking at nothing in particular. Mingyu doesn’t take any offense at his silence: he knows his regular inside out by now, so he somewhat expected it.

Jihoon seems even more exhausted than usual, this time. Outside, the rain is pouring down on the quiet city. It looks like the sky, too, is mourning someone tonight. Maybe he should say something.

“Rough day?” the bartender asks, shooting a concerned eye at the shorter one.

The brunet doesn’t answer at first, his teeth anxiously nibbling on his lower lip. He takes his head into his hands, grabbing two fistfuls of hair and pulling on it. Then, he looks at Mingyu. A shiver travels down the bartender’s spine, shaking him down to his core.

Whatever it is that Jihoon has faced tonight, it’s worn him down to the bone.

“Three kids, this time,” his customer ends up spilling, balling up his fist. His voice wavers on the first syllable. “The last one — a little girl, can’t have been over six — kept screaming, asking for her mommy and daddy.”

Mingyu nods quietly to let Jihoon know he’s listening as he grabs several bottles of alcohol and juice to prepare his usual drink. He knows all the recipes by heart now. He’s had more than enough time to practice.

“I should be used to it by now, but…” His voice cracks, and Jihoon sighs as memories of his night flash through his mind.

Mingyu throws the various ingredients inside a cocktail shaker and swings it up and down, mixing it all together. From the overhead rack, he grabs a fancy glass that he fills with ice cubes.

“There was also that guy who got into a car accident on the highway. He looked so devastated when he realized those were his last moments.”

The bartender fills the glass up to the top with the cocktail mix and sets it on a coaster in front of his customer. Jihoon sighs, grabbing the drink and downing half of it in one go.

“Careful there,” Mingyu warns, his eyes hovering with concern over the man.

“It’s fine,” Jihoon waves him off casually, settling back into silence.

The bar is empty tonight, so Mingyu grabs another stool and sets it in front of Jihoon’s so they can sit face to face. It’s not like he’s got any boss that could yell at him for slacking anyway. The place is terribly quiet, save for the splatter of rain on the pavement, the light guitar music playing in the background, and the sound of their own two breaths.

From up close, Mingyu can distinguish the deep, dark circles running under the other man’s eyes. How long has it been since he last took some well-deserved time to rest? Knowing Jihoon’s workaholic tendencies, probably far too long.

“You should take a break, hyung,” Mingyu sighs, resting his head in the palm of his hand. “You’re not looking so hot, these days.”

“Wow, geez, thanks,” the oldest scoffs indignantly with a light smile. “You sure know how to cheer up someone.”

“You know what I mean, hyung,” Mingyu rolls his eyes to the ceiling. “You know I think you’re handsome all day, every day. Whatever state you’re in when you come in through those doors.”

Jihoon sighs, hiding his face in embarrassment, and Mingyu smiles. The youngest rests his hand on Jihoon’s, lightly squeezing his fingers before intertwining them with his own. Under the purple neon lights, Jihoon looks even paler than usual. The bartender can’t help but worry. He wishes he could do more to help.

“What if we went on vacation somewhere, together?” he suggests spontaneously, before his brain can catch up with his mouth. “Surely the higher-ups could send someone else to cover for you in the meantime.”

Jihoon raises his eyebrows in surprise. Evidently, he never imagined Mingyu would suggest such a thing.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love being here at the bar,” Mingyu continues, running his thumb over the other man’s hand in reassurance. “But it does get quite lonely whenever you’re not here with me.”

The oldest sighs, running his free hand in his hair. He looks conflicted about Mingyu’s proposal, eyebrows knitted as he thinks about what to say.

“You know, at first I really thought you would hate me for doing that to you,” he mutters, his words barely loud enough for Mingyu to catch them. “Trapping you in here.”

“What are you saying?” the youngest frowns in disagreement. “I could never hate you, hyung. You only did what I asked of you.”

“Maybe that wasn’t what you envisioned, though… I sort of broke the rules, after all.”

Jihoon slightly turns away, as if he cannot bear to look Mingyu in the eye anymore. No matter what the youngest says to reassure him, Jihoon seems to bear this regret deep inside his heart, like a painful scar reopening every time he steps back into the bar.

“It’s perfect, hyung,” Mingyu extends his hand to hold Jihoon’s face, bringing him back to face him. “I asked you to take me somewhere safe, and you did. I asked you to take care of me, and you are.”

As their foreheads touch, cold skin against burning skin, Jihoon looks at him with wide eyes. Mingyu doesn’t know if it’s regret, shame, or affection he reads in that look. Maybe it’s all three at once.

Mingyu leans forward, closing the gap between them as he captures Jihoon’s lips with his own. The oldest gasps lightly, tensing for a moment before he relaxes under the youngest’s touch. Mingyu wants to kiss all that worry away, until all is left inside Jihoon’s mind is the certitude that Mingyu loves him, for better and for worse. So he kisses him again, relentlessly, enough times to drive all the bad thoughts away with his tenderness. It has always been Jihoon’s favorite form of therapy after all.

When they come apart, breathless and lips sore from overuse, Mingyu plants a last kiss on the corner of Jihoon’s mouth. The oldest purses his lips in delight, making his light dimples more apparent, and Mingyu’s heart melts a little inside his chest.

“If anything, I should be the one expecting you to be mad,” the youngest continues. “You probably weren’t expecting a random human to suddenly spring the burden of their last wishes on you when you’re just the messenger.”

Jihoon slaps him on the wrist in protest, and Mingyu chuckles lightly.

“You’ve never been a burden,” the oldest frowns. “Stop saying that. And I helped you because I wanted to.”

“Well, I’m telling you the help you’ve given me is more than what I was even hoping for. Not that I was thinking exactly straight that night when I wrote my letter.” He doesn’t remember much of it, but he knows Jihoon had appeared somewhat like an angel when he had kneeled to Mingyu’s side. “Maybe I was just praying for a miracle.”

Jihoon hums silently, his eyes falling back onto his abandoned drink. He downs the rest of his cocktail, his Adam’s apple bobbing steadily as he drinks the last gulps. Mingyu observes him quietly, staring at the other man’s beautiful features. He would compliment him out loud, but he knows he would only get a doubtful scoff in response.

“Have you delivered them all yet?” Mingyu asks, drumming his fingers on the polished counter.

Jihoon shakes his head with a sigh and takes a thick pile of letters out of his coat for Mingyu to see. The youngest scrunches his nose in disgust: the top one is covered in blood stains, the recipient’s name written hastily — and almost illegibly — on the envelope. This one must belong to the man who died in a car crash on the highway.

“I needed to see you before,” Jihoon admits, looking outside the window at the incessant rain.

Mingyu grabs the letters and goes through them quietly. Some have been written in round, unsteady letters. Kids. He’s always wondered what kind of dying wishes children write in those. Do they tell their parents they love them? Do they ask if they were bad kids, why it happened to them? Do they even understand the purpose of these letters?

He would like to read them but he doesn’t let his curiosity get the best of him. No one is allowed to read the letters but their intended recipients. It is Jihoon’s solemn duty as a mailman.

“I could come with you, this time,” Mingyu suggests, raising hopeful eyes at the oldest.

Jihoon considers him for a second, uncertainty painted on his face. Ever since that fateful night, Mingyu has never set foot outside of the bar. The youngest doesn’t even know if it’s physically possible for him to leave those grounds, or if he’s bound to stay there for eternity. Surely Jihoon thought it through before he brought him here.

“It’s a difficult job, you know,” the oldest gulps down nervously. “The recipients rarely take it well.”

“Then you need someone to support you when you deliver the letters. I can do that,” Mingyu assures, placing his open hand on his chest.

His heart isn’t beating anymore, but there’s still plenty he can do with the new life Jihoon has given him. And if that means spending more time with Jihoon, he will do anything to get that opportunity.

“… Alright,” Jihoon sighs, grabbing Mingyu’s hand and lacing their fingers together again.

“Wait, really?” Mingyu perks up in surprise.

He definitely wasn’t expecting it to be so easy. Jihoon smiles at him, pulling their hands towards him so he can lay a kiss on Mingyu’s knuckles. The youngest’s heart could leap out of his chest, if he still had a beating one.

“And then we’ll go on that vacation,” Jihoon throws a wink at him, and Mingyu chuckles. “Where would you want to go?”

“Hmm…” It’s a difficult question. He’s never once considered leaving, ever since he was brought to the bar. “I think… I think I would want to see where you grew up, hyung!”

Jihoon stops, looking at him from the side, and Mingyu wonders for a second if he said something out-of-line. But the oldest’s face suddenly breaks into a wide smile.

“Yeah, we can do that.” Jihoon gets up, pocketing the pile of letters and adjusting his coat. “Grab your things and let’s go.”

Mingyu jumps to his feet in excitement, running to get his jacket and turn off the lights in the bar. He’s never felt so thrilled before in his life. Jihoon looks at him with the widest smile he’s ever seen. The youngest can’t believe he’s going on an adventure with the man he loves so much his chest hurts — the man who saved him from death and granted him another chance.

When the two step out of the bar, hand in hand, the rain has stopped falling on the quiet city. Far on the horizon, the first orange lights of daybreak have started chasing the darkness away.

It’s a wonderful day to be alive.

_To: the Mailman_

_Dear Mr. Mailman,_

_I’m sorry to bother you, but I have no one else to address my last wishes to._

_I have been on my own for so long that, even in death, I don’t know who to turn to._

_There is only one thing I would want, something I never got to experience in life._

_Please, Mr. Mailman, could you take me somewhere safe where someone would take care of me?_

_That alone would be enough to make the happiest of men._

_I’m sorry, Mr. Mailman, for all the trouble I’m putting you through. Maybe I’m asking too much of you._

_I am scared_

_I am dying and I am scared_

_Oh please Mr. Mailman, please help me_

_— Kim Mingyu_

🌙☔💌 THE END 💌☔🌙

**Author's Note:**

> This was partly inspired by [Shigofumi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shigofumi:_Letters_from_the_Departed), an anime that I watched a good 10 years ago that never really left my mind~
> 
> I'm so sorry for killing Mingyu but hey, I gave him a happy ending anyway so please forgive me? 😔
> 
> I hope you enjoyed that fic despite how short it was!!  
> Please consider leaving a comment to tell me your thoughts about this fic, I would appreciate it a lot 😊💕
> 
> Find me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/cirelli_art) and [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/cirelli_art/) if you want to chat or see my occasional drawings!
> 
> Take care~ 💞


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